Wake Up Call
by Lola99
Summary: modern day AU featuring my favorite crossover OTP, Garrett Hawke and John Shepard. Based off a tumblr post about a fire alarm going off at 3am and finding the cute guy from next door standing outside in his underwear. ; ) Silly and fun. Now updated with a follow up, per request. Rating definitely changed for a reason.
1. Chapter 1

John Shepard let himself into his apartment, wearily throwing his keys on the table and his coat across the back of the recliner. It was almost three in the morning and he'd just finished his shift at The Normandy, the nightclub where he worked as a bouncer. It had been a crazy night, John was exhausted, and he had class in six hours. He didn't even stop to brush his teeth or wash his face before stripping down to his boxers and collapsing face-first into his bed.

He fell into a deep sleep almost immediately. So deep in fact, that he wasn't sure how long the fire alarm had been going off before it finally roused him . Swearing, he ran to his window and looked down. Several of his neighbors were already down in the alley, which confirmed his suspicion that the alarm had been going off for a while before he'd heard it.

He quickly made his way out the front door, and down the stairs to the exit. It wasn't until he was setting his bare feet on cold pavement that he realized he was still in his boxers-and nothing else. Well, nothing for it now. Of course, it was late October in Chicago and it was not even remotely _warm_ outside. Fuck, he hoped this was just someone's really bad idea of a prank and they would be back inside before he had a chance to realize exactly how cold it was.

He made his way towards the open end of the alley, and cursed again when the one person he didn't want to see caught his eye. Praying that the other man wouldn't notice him, he started to head in a different direction when his name was called out. _Shit_. Forcing a smile to his face, he turned and headed back towards the other man.

John had only moved into the building a month ago, and he hadn't met anyone except the man that lived directly across the hall from him, Garrett Hawke. He hadn't been hoping to avoid him because he didn't like him. Quite the opposite in fact. He prayed the lighting was bad enough as to hide the deep blush he could feel spreading across his face. Garrett Hawke had been the object of his fantasies since he'd first seen him in the hallway, and now here he was talking to him in nothing but his underwear. Could this night get any worse?

"Hey, John!"

"Hi Garrett."

"I was looking for you, and was a little worried when I didn't see you."

John rubbed the back of his neck and gave a sheepish smile. "Yeah, I guess I was sleeping pretty hard."

"I'd say. That alarm is pretty annoying."

"You know anything yet? Is there actually a fire or is someone just messing around?"

"I haven't seen anything. Probably someone coming home from the bar and thought it would be funny."

John nodded. They were both students at the University, as were the majority of the people who lived in their building. As was typical within the college community, there was vastly different levels of maturity amongst the residents. This was the second time since he'd moved in that the fire alarm had gone off. The last time he hadn't been sound asleep and in his underwear, though.

A fact that he was reminded of as the cold bit into him and he shivered. Damn it! He'd grown up in southern California and he was still getting used to the colder weather here.

As if reading his mind Garrett spoke in a teasing tone, "You look like you're freezing, John. You still need to get used to these upper midwest winters before you start running around in your shorts in the middle of the night."

John wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole. When it didn't, he figured he had to respond.

"Yeah...didn't really stop to think until I was on the ground."

"Here. Take my jacket."

"Oh, no. I couldn't-"

"Nonsense." Garrett removed his jacket and handed it over. "I much more used to the cold than you are. Take it. Just for a bit."

As he reluctantly took the jacket, he realized that Garrett was now standing there in only his boxers. Well, that helped him feel a little better.

Until the other man cleared his throat and he realized he'd been staring.

"Uh...thanks."

"No problem." Garrett flashed a grin. "Like I said, I'm much more used to this. I grabbed the jacket more out of modesty than anything else."

"So did you grow up around here?"

"Just a few hours north, in Wisconsin."

"So what brought you to Chicago?"

"We actually moved while I was still in high school. My mom grew up around here and after my dad died, she wanted to go back to her roots."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

Garrett shrugged. "It was eight years ago. I still miss him sometimes, but it's okay."

They fell into an awkward silence. John kept hoping that any second now he'd wake up from what was surely an exhaustion-induced dream.

"So did you work tonight?" Garrett's voice broke into the silence, and any fleeting hope of this being a dream vanished.

"Yeah. It was a pretty wild night. Probably why I was so tired."

"So, how does someone end up being a bouncer?"

"I...I guess I just sort of fell into it."

Garrett tilted his head. "How do you mean?"  
>John hesitated. How much of his past did he really want to share? He finally decided that he'd already made an ass out of himself and it couldn't get much worse by being honest.<p>

"I pretty much grew up on the streets and ran with a fairly rough crowd for a while. Luckily there was a guy in the neighborhood, David, who saw me as more than the punk I acted like. He helped get me get onto a different path and earn my GED. Became sort of a mentor for me. So when he came to Chicago to open up The Normandy, I saw an opportunity. I had a fairly limited skill set, but it was useful with rowdy, drunk people. I talked him into letting me come with. I lived with him until I saved enough to go out on my own and enroll in college."

"I thought you said you only moved here a year ago."

"I did."

"Wow. You accomplished your goal in less than a year. That's pretty impressive, John."

He shrugged. "I found financial aid programs and applied for every scholarship I could. I already got a late start. Didn't really want to waste any more time if I could help it."

"Still." Garrett gave him a warm smile that made his stomach flip. "David must be proud of you."

"I hope so."

"I'm su-"

Garrett's reply was cut off as a firefighter came over to let them know that the building had been cleared and it was safe to back inside. They made their way through the front doors and up the stairs with the rest of the crowd, getting out on the third floor. After they said a brief goodbye in the hallway John made his way into his apartment and closed the door.

He was almost to his bedroom before he realized that he still had Garrett's jacket. He started back towards the front of his apartment with the intention of returning it, when he was stopped by a knock on his own front door. When he opened the door, Garrett greeted him with a grin.

John opened his mouth to say something about the jacket, but Garrett spoke first.

"John, will you have coffee with me tomorrow?"

"I…"

"And just to be clear, I _do_ mean like a date."

"I would like that. Yes."

"Are you free around three o'clock?"

"Yes," John repeated.

"It's a date then. I'm looking forward to it. Now I'll let you sleep."

John was frozen as Garrett leaned in, placing a quick kiss on his cheek before saying goodnight and turning back into his own apartment. But then he remembered the jacket in his hand.

"Garrett, wait."

The other man turned. "Yes?"

"Here." John held out the jacket. "You forgot this."

"Oh, thanks."

When Garrett reached to take the jacket from him, John could swear he felt a spark jump between their fingers.

At least that was his excuse when he reflected later on what he did next. With a sudden burst of confidence, he leaned forward and softly brushed his lips against Garrett's. It was brief, but he was strangely satisfied with the look of shock on the other man's face when he pulled back.

"See you tomorrow, Garrett."

John Shepard walked back into his apartment with a new spring in his step. He plopped back into his bed and fell asleep with a smile on his face.


	2. Changes

It had been several weeks since the fire alarm had gone off, and Garrett and John had been on a number of dates during that time. They'd been having a good time and had gotten to know each other pretty well. Well enough that Garrett could tell something was seriously bothering John tonight. They were in his living room, about to head out to a movie but John was obviously distracted as he searched for his coat and keys.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, just a little tired."

"I think it's more than that. You can talk to me, you know."

John stopped in the middle of putting his coat on. He turned towards Garrett, looking a little lost as he said, "I...don't even know where to start, to be honest."

"I've got an idea. Let's skip the movie tonight, head across the hall to my apartment and I'll cook while you talk."

"I…" John hesitated for second before giving Garrett a grateful smile and saying, "That actually sounds great. Thank you. I'm not sure I can handle the general public tonight."

"That's kind of what I figured."

They made their way to Garrett's apartment and into the kitchen. He motioned for John to have a seat at one of the barstools while he started pulling out ingredients and utensils to make them dinner.

"So...what happened?"

"I told you that David came out here to open up The Normandy, right?"

"Yeah."

"The Normandy is actually owned by a larger corporation. It was a bunch of nightclub owners who went into business together-they call themselves the Alliance."

Garrett looked up from the vegetables he was chopping to show he was listening. "Okay."

"Well, the Normandy's been doing really good. One of the best openings they ever had."

"That's good."

"Yeah."

"But?"

"But now they want David to go to Europe and head up a new division of their company they're opening up there."

"Ah. I see."

John continued while Garrett threw the vegetables into a pan with a couple of chicken breasts from his fridge.

"I mean, I know I should be happy about it. Happy for him."

"But he's your family and you'll miss him."

"Exactly. And I'm not sure I can do this...anything, without him."

Garrett put the pan in the oven and walked around the counter so that he was standing next to John. Putting his hands on his shoulders and gently turning him so that they were face-to-face, he said, "You know you can. It's just change. And change is hard, I know. But you're smart and driven and stubborn and you'll be just fine."

The corner of John's mouth twitched and he said, "Stubborn, huh?"

"Yes. It's just one of the things I love about you."

When John's eyes widened in surprise, Garrett realized what he'd just said. Quickly pulling away, he went back over to the oven and opened the door to check on the food. He heard John get up and move next to him.

"You, uh, just put that in there. I don't think it's done yet."

"Right."

When he still didn't move, John said, "Garrett?"

"Yes?"

It was John's turn to grab his shoulders and turn him around so that they were eye-to-eye.

"I love you, too."

"No, don't-"

"Shhh." John put his finger over Garrett's lips. "I'm not saying that just because you did. To be honest, it's the only reason why I didn't completely lose it when David told me. You've given me something else to fight for. You're right. I'm stubborn, and I'm not going to give up on this life I'm building for myself. Especially the part with you in it."

Garrett really didn't know what to say to that. So he decided not to say anything at all. Instead, he grabbed John's face between his hands and leaned in to cover his lips with his own. It started off slow and gentle but then John's hands tightened on his shoulders, fingers digging into muscle, and Garrett lost all control.

With a moan he deepened the kiss, biting at John's bottom lip before moving down. He kissed along the stubble on his jawline and then just behind his earlobe. Back and forth, he teased with teeth and lips and tongue until the other man was moaning as well.

And then John's hands suddenly moved up and curled into Garrett's hair, pulling him back so he could retaliate with is own brand of torture. He kissed him deep and hard, tongue invading and teeth scraping and senses reeling. John pressed him back against the counter, placing kisses along his neck and down into the open V of his t-shirt, nipping along his collarbone.

Garrett felt his knees buckle but John just leaned into him to keep him upright, his growing erection pressing into Garrett's hip and forcing a groan from him. He moved his hands down, briefly bringing them under John's shirt and brushing fingers low along his belly before continuing down to cup him through his jeans. He was rewarded with a low growl and hands firmly gripping his ass to haul him up onto the kitchen counter. The dishes that had been sitting there scattered as tried to steady himself. Then he felt the heat from the oven, Garrett suddenly came back to his senses and remembered where they were.

Reluctantly pulling back and hopping off the counter, he said, "As much as I'm enjoying myself, I really don't want to do this in the kitchen."

"Why not?"

The wicked grin that John gave him had all rational thought fleeing his head. He shrugged.

"Don't remember."

John flashed another grin and then they were both lost. Fingers, lips, and teeth trailed over skin. Garrett's shirt was thrown across one of the barstools, John's joining it just a second later. They danced around each other, teasing, tugging, and kissing until they were both breathless.

It was Garrett's turn to give John a wicked look as he pressed the other man against the small island and dropped to his knees in front of him. He enjoyed the intensity of John's gaze as he undid the fastenings on his jeans, bringing them and his boxers down over his hips. He placed kisses low on his belly, over his hips, and along the inside of his thighs until John was trembling around him.

"Christ, Garrett! You're a tease!"

"Mmm. Would you like me to stop?"

"Oh god, don't you dare stop."

Garrett chuckled before taking John's cock in hand and circling the tip with his tongue. John groaned as Garrett continued teasing along his length, licking and placing soft kisses before finally taking pity on him and taking his length into his mouth. He felt John's fingers dig into his scalp and after teasing him for so long, he decided to allowed him to set the pace.

He relaxed and John took the hint, moving his hips and working himself in and out of Garrett's mouth. Garrett brought one hand up to cup and gently squeeze while the other hand frantically worked to free his own straining erection. When he was finally able to wrap his fingers around himself and give a few gentle tugs, he groaned in relief. The vibration caused John to swear and move his hips faster.

Garrett could tell that John was close and he knew that he was too. John's pace started to become erratic and his fingers clenched almost painfully in Garrett's hair. Almost. Actually, the feeling bordered somewhere between pain and pleasure, and he felt that familiar sensation pulling in his groin. He was right on the edge and then suddenly he clenched his fingers around John, simultaneously releasing into his own hand.

Seconds later, John groaned in response and shouted, "Fuck, Garrett...Coming!"

Garrett brought his hands up to John's hips, holding him steady as he swallowed him down. When he was finished, he pulled back and placed a soft kiss on John's hip before resting his forehead against his thigh. They stayed like that for several minutes, John not trusting his legs to support himself if he dared move.

But as the euphoria started to wear off, Garrett became increasingly aware that he was not in a comfortable position and he slowly stood up. John, feeling slightly more steady by then, pulled him into his arms, placing kisses at his temple, his jaw, and his eyelids before finally settling on his lips.

Pulling back, he smiled. "That was something."

Garrett smirked in response. "Yeah. Look at the state you left my kitchen in. I think you should probably leave now."

"Ha! You still owe me dinner. I'm not going anywhere."

"Oh yeah. Dinner. Hope you like your chicken well done."

John laughed and Garrett placed another quick kiss on his lips before pulling away so they could both get their clothes back in order. He opened the oven, peeked inside, and then quickly closed it again.

Turning back to John, he said, "On second thought, how do you feel about Chinese?"


End file.
